I have been riding for a while. I had a ZX7 and it got totalled, God was wityh me I did not go down. A tire was bouncing on the belt way and lord and behold it bounced right in front of me and hit the bike. I was lucky. And blessed. Where are you frome I am in the Maryland area. I want to get some more riding time in and would like to get used to the new bike. the weight of the ZX12 is almost the same as the ZX7 I had and I love the black on black. Hit me back if you are in this area maybe we can hook up.